'Putnam Spelling Bee' debuts next Friday
Issue date: 11/4/09 Section: Features
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Fresh off the national tour, the comedy recently closed on Broadway after nearly 1,200 performances. Geared toward an adult audience, it captures a quirky county spelling bee with a cast of characters in the throes of puberty: from the reigning spelling champion and the overachiever with the lisp to the overweight kid with a host of health problems and a second alternate who never expected to compete. All are united through their love of spelling.
At each performance of "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," four audience volunteers will be chosen to participate in the actual spelling bee live on stage. Volunteer spellers are encouraged to arrive at the theatre 30 minutes prior to curtain time to sign up to be selected.
The cast includes Darrius Washington of Detroit as Chip Tolentino, Anne C. Di Iorio of Farmington Hills as Logainne Schwartzandgrubenniere, Maxwell C. Bolton of Birmingham as Leaf Coneybear, Joel A. Frazee of Bluffton, Ohio, as William Barfee, Catherine Dacpano Menzies of Macomb as Marcy Park and Susan Boonenberg of Dearborn as Olive Ostrovsky. Detroiters Erica Cole as Rona Lisa Perretti and Steven Ploe as vice principal Douglas Panch will monitor the spelling bee making sure all of the words are spelled correctly.
The cast will also feature Dez Walker as Olive's dad, Angel Shakespeare as Olive's mom, Rob Hammond as Carl Grubenierre, Emmanuel Carter as Dan Schwarz and Chris Jakob as Jesus Christ.
The production will be directed by Greg Grobis, with musical direction by Shawn McDonald.
The creative team includes David Regal (artistic director), Melinda Pacha (costume design), Mark Choinski (scenic design), Kathleen Lanphear (lighting design), Matthew Lira (stage manager) and Hannah Reddy (assistant stage manager).
Tickets are $20 for general admission; $16 for senior citizens, UDM and Marygrove faculty, staff and alumni; $13 for students and $9 for UDM and Marygrove students. A $3 service fee will be applied per order for non-subscribers.
Performances will be held Nov. 13-22 on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. at the Marygrove Theatre on the campus of Marygrove, 8425 W. McNichols Rd.
The box office is in Reno Hall on the University of Detroit Mercy campus. Hours of operation are noon to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday.
The box office will move on the day of the performance to the Marygrove Theatre and will open 45 minutes prior to curtain.
For tickets, call 313-993-3270 or reserve online at http://theatre.udmercy.edu.
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